Muenster, TX (03/26/2018) – Shawn Hess made the 18-hour drive from Texas count as he finished third in the UXC2 Pro naturally aspirated UTV class in the Wild Boar GNCC in Palatka, FL. Hess’s father finished fourth in the Masters UTV class. Both were driving Yamaha YXZ 1000s.

Shawn Hess made his debut in the class with co-driver Blake Knabe. After starting on the third row, Hess hooked up with fellow Yamaha racer CJ Greaves and rode the YXZ train through the rough woods. Greaves passed him late in the race and finished second with Hess a close third.

“Those ruts were crazy, so we had to take our time and pick good lines,” explained Hess. “I was really excited to put in a good showing for the first round and the car performed flawlessly. The Elka Shocks worked phenomenal. Our Maxxis Tires with Tire Balls were great and we didn’t get stuck one time. We only have a little tweaking to do for the next race.”

GNCC allows for one throwaway, so the podium finish puts him well in the thick of the title chase, despite missing the first round. Hess chose to go GNCC racing this year at the urging of fellow Texas racers Hunter and Cody Miller.

“The Miller brothers are good friends of mine and they’ve been working on me to come out,” said Hess. “We’ve had some great battles in our local series and they were really instrumental in our decision. GNCC carries so much weight in the industry, so performing well there is quite a feat.”

Hess’ father, Glenn, competed with co-driver Tom Davis in the Masters class for 45+ drivers. The elder Hess put on a show, finishing a runaway fourth. The team also fielded cars for Matt Horton and Austin Sides in the class.

The team races, in large part, to test its vast array of products for UTVs. Hess Motorsports makes many different race ready parts for nearly all brands of the off-road machines.

“Hess Motorsports is constantly developing products for these SXS, whether it’s Yamaha, Polaris, or Can-Am,” said Hess. “We want to go out and test our products and get feedback from the racers running our products. We had a really good showing with a lot of drivers running our products.”

The Hess Motorsports team will next head west to compete in the Best in the Desert Series UTV World Championship April 6-7 in Laughlin, NV. The team will return to GNCC competition when the series heads to Camp Coker Bullet at Moree’s Sportsman’s Preserve in Society Hill, SC. That race is scheduled for April 21-22.